African Art Summary - Grade 10 Chapter 2 PDF

SUMMARY GRADE 10: CHAPTER 2 - AFRICAN ART BACKGROUND WHEN Examples of Pre-Historic Art Africa - earliest expressions of Historians divide the development of humans into various...

SUMMARY GRADE 10: CHAPTER 2 - AFRICAN ART BACKGROUND WHEN Examples of Pre-Historic Art Africa - earliest expressions of Historians divide the development of humans into various periods: aesthetic mark making and object 1. THE STONE AGE: making The Paleolithic Period – 40 000 – 10 000 BC - nomads who hunted and sheltered in caves To understand the development of - They engraved and painted on stone, bone and ivory - Simple tools and carvings were generally crude “art” - we need to understand what - Animal skins were used for coverings is meant by Prehistoric times The Mesolithic Period – 10 000 – 3500 BC - A simple community lifestyle - clusters of reed and Venus van Willendorf, 30 000 – 20 000 BC/BCE. Paleolithic PREHISTORIC refers to a time in the clay dwellings development of humans before - the start of agriculture and the domestication of Period there was a written language animals near water sources. - Woven cloth was produced for clothes and coverings - found in Austria and is the first known portrayal of a human figure Early Cultural groups - artifacts and The Neolithic Period – 3500 – 1700 BC - Villages – nearby cultivated fields - a votive figure carried in the hand of a pregnant woman to ensure the birth sculptures mostly served a religious of a healthy baby or votive purpose and therefore 2. THE BRONZE AGE were considered to be a functional - 2000 BC - copper and tin were combined a harder alloy was - Identity and anatomical detail are unimportant as only the parts of the object used in everyday life created known as bronze body important to birth process are exaggerated - Weapons like swords and arrowheads as well as sculptures were created from bronze. Venus van Willendorf The objects, structures, engravings - Community life in settlements - sculpture was carved out of stone and paintings developed as their 3. THE IRON AGE life style changed - approximately 11, 5 cm high - Iron was exported to Europe in 700BC - Iron replaced bronze for weapons, tools and decorations - consists of spherical shapes - Geometric patterns, birds, animals and fantasy were included in decorations - stomach, thighs and breasts are enlarged and exaggerated - a lack of any delineation of the face - arms are reduced to bands over the breasts and no feet are shown - head bears a pattern showing some sort of hairstyle - bracelets are carved on her arms - sculpture has a strong three-dimensional feeling  Paleolithic painting Neolithic Architecture - Neolithic period notable for its architecture in the form of monumental graves and altars - made of large stones known as megaliths - Post and Lintel (beam) was the first construction method developed in the world - using a lintel (beam) as the horizontal member over a space supported at its ends by two vertical posts - first paintings date from the Paleolithic period - best examples found in the caves of Altamira in Spain and Lascaux in France - deep into caves and are not easily accessed - most common theme in cave paintings are large wild animals such as bison, horses, etc. - drawings of humans are rare and usually schematic in contrast with the more naturalistic animals - also abstract patterns and tracings of human hands Stonehenge, Salisbury Plains of England, c. 2 000BC/BCE. Neolithic period Stonehenge - it is a CROMLECH (circular stone construction) - the construction consists of four concentric circles of stone and a central altar - the outside ring consists of pairs of large monoliths with a stone lintel - the second ring consists of smaller Sarasin stones - the third ring is horse-shoe shaped and consisted of 5 pairs of monoliths with lintels - the fourth ring is also horse-shoe shaped and consists of smaller stones - in the middle a large horizontal rock is balanced like an altar - the construction displays order, symmetry and harmony - it is thought to have been built for religious rituals and according to the position of the sun at a solstice  ROCK ART IN SOUTHERN AFRICA WHERE - Rock Art - found in shelters or overhangs - Rock Art that still exists - only a few hundred years old - stone tools at some sites and patterning in ochre - suggest that much of the art must have eroded over time - evidence of earlier inhabitants - Rock art - throughout the world - the Lascaux caves in France show similarities to the paintings found in Southern Africa although the artists had no contact with each other - both have images of the large animals - desired in the hunt and admired for their power and potency - There are similarities in the colours, materials and symbols used, like San Hunting Scene negative hand prints, found on both continents WHO WHAT Late Stone Age people - created most of the Rock Art found in Southern Africa - CHARACTERISTICS ancestors of the San/Bushmen - first rock paintings - symbols, single figures and animals in single colour silhouettes of black or red HOW - Later - tonal in that dark brown, red brown, white and a mixture of colours MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES appeared -polychrome paintings of animals graded from beige and white - Rock Art - two techniques - Rock Engraving known as Petroglyphs and Rock to a light red brown and then to dark brown. Paintings known as Pictographs - Animals -portrayed showing foreshortening - buck looking back over his - The consensus is that pigment (colouring) - clay, rocks, plants, charcoal and shoulder guano (white bird droppings) were mixed with blood, animal fat and other - The subjects - activities such as trance dances, rain making rituals and natural liquids in different ways hunting activities - Cederberg rock paintings in the Cape - the fat has protected the paint so well - after the settlers arrived in the southern part of Africa - wagons, men on that the rock around the image has weathered away horseback with guns, red coat English soldiers and Zulu impis - The paint application: - elongated their limbs in paintings - proportions of the animals - naturalistic with detail A little twig that is flattened - children and portraits - seldom found- “image” became a spiritual reality and could not be taken lightly Animal hair tied to a stick- hairs appear in the paint Fingers dipped into a warm paint and fat mixture PETROGLYPHS A hollow bone or reed that releases sucked up paint as the finger is lifted - Petroglyphs (rock engravings) -created by drawing with a sharpened rock point onto a rock face. - Creation of images takes skill – observation of animals over a long period - to - These examples - older than paintings - found in open plains rather than in make a naturalistic image to engage the potency of the natural image with shelters the spiritual purpose - usually of symbols or the outlines of animals - economical (few descriptive lines) use of lines - images of animals are remarkably naturalistic WHY - The function/purpose of Rock Art -tied up with the lifestyle and beliefs -not considered as mere decorations. - hunters respected their prey - in some paintings, they seem to transform themselves partly into animals - used the blood of animals like the eland in their paint to bring power to their images - the shaman would perform rituals and go into a trance in front of the paintings to ensure a successful hunt, call for rain or to facilitate healing - trance state was induced by music, rhythmic dancing, and sometimes by eating An illustration of a Trance Dance from the North Eastern Cape narcotic plants. The Shaman entered the spirit world on behalf of the people. - marks or arrows near the animal that suggest that they simulated the hunt. In other paintings there seem to be “bloodlines” connecting the animals and the men. - In the example of a trance dance the figures are seen camouflaged with animal heads and animal skins. - Two sticks to mimic an approaching animal with four legs. This could have been An example of a Rock Painting showing the “blood line” connection at Fulton’s a technique used in a hunt or the transformation between man and animal. Rock, Drakensberg. INSPIRATION FROM ROCK ART Rock art appears in the South African Coat of Arms. San figures from the Linton Panel Motto written in Khoisan language of the /Xam people meaning: diverse people unite. Pippa Skotnes, Bushman Art, 1987. Coloured Etching. Walter Battiss, Rock artist, 1965. Oil on canvas  AFRICAN TRIBAL ART BACKGROUND WHY - Africa - vast continent - many language and cultural groups BELIEF SYSTEMS - Traditional African Art - masks, figures, relief carvings and objects created in - To tribal communities the spiritual world constantly interacts with the Pre-Colonial Africa (i.e. before European countries made advances into physical world of man and nature Africa) - Tribal elders used rituals and ceremonies to discipline the younger - The art forms are rooted in socio-political and religious belief systems members according to tribal customs - Ancestors played an important role - were worshiped in various ways - Initiation of young boys - secret bush camps where the older men, often wearing masks, would instruct the boys in tribal lineage histories, moral behaviour, certain practical skills and traditions - Fertility in women and the earth - celebrated in festivals and carved images. The woman was honoured for bearing the next generation of the tribe. - Recently world religions like Christianity and Islam have entered Africa. WHO & WHEN - BENIN: The Benin civilization - in the same region from about the 11th to the 16th century AFRICAN CIVILISATIONS - Wooden figures and masks etc that were created during the past thousands - at the same time as the Renaissance in Europe of years in Africa have not survived - made from materials that do not last - There were also few records written as histories were told in story form - CENTRAL AFRICA: Civilizations - around the Congo River in central Africa – orally no clear dates concerning the civilizations - Egyptian civilization - discussed later - SOUTHERN AFRICA: Sub Saharan civilizations: The dating of the Lydenberg heads in South Africa (discussed later) indicates that there was a civilization in that area during the 6th century AD - NOK: The oldest of these civilizations seems to be the Nok civilization which developed near the Niger River - 2500 years old - from 500 BC to 2nd century - ZIMBABWE: In Southern Africa a civilization also developed near AD. Zimbabwe from about the 11th century to the 16th century. - This was also the time of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. - MAPUNGUBWE: The evidence at the site indicates that there was a - IFE: The Ife civilization - North Western area of Africa from about the 7th to thriving community there between 1200 and 1300 AD the 11th centuries AD - This was during part of the Middle Ages in Europe WHAT & HOW Power Figures (Nkisi) Ife Sculpture, 11th Century - Power figures - carved wood sculptures that - given spiritual power by a - a bronze sculpture, 40cm high ritual specialist - honours the king, head of the Yoruba tribes - A variety of ingredients can be found in power figures, including herbal - In African sculpture - proportions of figure medicines, animal parts, pieces of metal, and a variety of fibers, all are often exaggerated symbolically. chosen to attract and concentrate spiritual power within the figure - horns from fierce animals were also frequently added to power figures to - head is enlarged to indicate intelligence and intensify their strength leadership - power figures were created to address very specific issues - such as - The lost wax method is used - the figure is healing, divination, protection, or oath taking constructed in wax. - most power figures were created for an individual, who may share its - A clay mould is made and then when dry it is Ife Sculpture, 11th Century powers with others, some power figures were intended to serve an entire heated to get rid of the wax. Molten metal is community, promoting a more general state of well-being. then poured into the mould - this figure and face are rounded more naturalistically because it is made in the softer wax - in contrast to geometric carved African figures - symbolic headpiece and decorative jewelry befitting of royalty Power Figures (Nkisi) The Mboom Helmut mask, 19th century AFRICAN MASKS - The Mboom mask - from Zaire in central Africa – height: 30cm - Masks created to play an important role in a ritual or a ceremony: - carved from wood to fit over a head. purpose of frightening people away from secret meetings. They could - prominent forehead represent special ancestors or spirits in a festival or ritual. - could represent a primordial ancestor that - the person wearing the mask transforms into the personality concerned would empower an initiation ceremony - Western world people - masks used as decoration - surface decorated with geometric patterns. - African tribes used masks in multimedia display including sound, scents, On the jaw line shells are combined with movement and costumes beads. The eyes are masked with a band of - masks made in bronze and terracotta but most masks were carved out of Mboom Helmut mask, 19th century beads and beads delineate the nose and lips. wood and decorated by engraving, burning, oiling, and adding beads, - The back of the mask is also decorated - it shells, horns and fibers forms a Helmet SOUTHERN AFRICA THE LYDENBERG HEADS THE ZIMBABWE BIRDS, 13th to 15th CENTURIES - terracotta heads - earliest - The settlement at Great Zimbabwe formed a trading network - Chinese known examples of sculpture ceramics, Indian beads, Islamic glassware and Persian pottery have been found in Southern Africa excavated at the site proving that the Shona people were trading widely in - found buried near Lydenberg in gold and ivory at the time of the Middle Ages in Europe. the northern part of South Africa - A wealthy ruling class - constructed dwelling places on top of hills, enclosed - carbon dating places them at with thick curved walls - As many as 250 of such ruins known as the 6th century AD “madzimbabwe” by the local people - used in some special ceremony - Two of them were big enough to - The largest and most famous of these is called Great Zimbabwe. have been worn while the smaller ones have holes at the The Lydenberg heads - built in granite, a very hard rock which is plentiful on the plateau. These neck that allowed them to be stones were cut and shaped to form a dry-stone construction meaning that attached to some kind of they were kept in place by arrangement and weight without the use of costume framework mortar. - The simple facial features and the decorative patterns - Birds were found within the enclosure. They were carved from large single - The large heads seem to have pieces of grey-green soap stone - 30cm high. animal-like forms on top of their heads and decorative - Symbols played an important role - the Zimbabwe Birds seem to have been patterns on the faces a symbol of the authority of the king or chief. - The body of the bird is similar to an eagle but it has human-like limbs with Great Zimbabwe toes not claws. - Birds are thought to represent the ancestors because they fly and can be the messengers to the spirits. - On the plinth of the sculpture there is the relief form of a crocodile, a symbol of royalty - form a herring bone pattern. MAPUNGUBWE AFRICAN CRAFTS - Limpopo and the Shashi rivers - All African tribes made their own functional objects from natural materials there are two hills and one of - A very rich culture developed in the producing of products that were both them is known as Mapungubwe functional and aesthetic for use in everyday life – clay pots, baskets, mats, - The culture and the trade in headrests gold, copper, and iron were similar to that of Great Zimbabwe - artifacts made of gold and copper and exotic beads - The most famous artifact found - gold rhinoceros about 22cm in size - It had been carved in wood and covered with gold foil ARTISTS INFLUENCED BY AFRICAN ART Pablo Picasso, Three Figures Under a Tree, 1907 – 8. Oil on Canvas. Cecil Skotnes, Figure Composition, 1966. Woodcut with oil painting. Initially Westerners saw African masks as ‘primitive’ and not as art. It was only in the Cecil Skotnes is a South African artist who admired African carvings. He created beginning of the twentieth century that artists such as Picasso started using African art as woodcuts (wood panel cut into a relief design and inked) and later started painting inspiration and African art became ‘art’. Picasso was influenced by the fragmentation he saw the wood cuts he used to make his prints. This led him to a new technique. in African carvings. He changed his figures and faces into faceted forms and painted mainly in monochromatic shades of natural browns or blues or greens. What similarities and differences do you see between his work and African art? What other influences of African art can you see in this work?  A comparison between African and Western art African art Western Art Ancestor sculpture, Fang, (no date) Wood Leonado da Vinci, Mona Lisa (1503) Oil on wood Had a function. Made for art purposes. No distinction between art and life. If it became decayed, another one was made. Only one of this masterpiece. Conceptual. Simplified with strong geometrical shapes. Naturalistic. Proportions are not correct e.g. head to large for the body. Artworks were often given movement; used in dances and Static, not seen in movement. rituals where they were worn or carried Never seen in isolation; part of a complex of ritual, Seen in isolation, usually in a museum or gallery, or movement and drama; the masks were seen in movement previously in a palace or cathedral. as worn by a costumed dancer, accompanied by music, singing and clapping. Were made to be used, not looked at. Some masks were Made to be contemplated: we must look and think about never seen by the entire community; only used by secret it. societies within the group and were hidden away after use. Were not carefully preserved; generally made of wood and Preserved very carefully in galleries and museums, we adorned with feathers, beads, seeds and animal skins – expect art to last for a long time and must preserve them materials which decay quickly, especially in the climate of for future generations. the rain forests. Masks which decayed were simply replaced.